The former Eagle Stop convenience store at 30th and King streets was demolished last week and will be turned into a paved parking lot for the nearby Calvary Worship Center.

The former Eagle Stop convenience store at 30th and King streets is shown in the latter stages of its demolition Aug. 29.

Westside Pioneer photo

The non-denominational evangelical church recently bought the 14,115-square-foot property at 531 N. 30th and took out a demolition permit with the Regional Building Department.
The site's 1,200-square-foot store and gas station had closed in 2009 for economic reasons, according to an interview with the family that owned the business at that time.
“It wasn't being used, and we have parking issues,” said Mark Bofill, assistant pastor at Calvary, this week. “The Lord opened the door to let us purchase it.”
One of the largest Westside churches, Calvary provides services on a 5.44-acre property a few hundred feet east of 30th, off King Street, with the actual address 501 Castle Road. A separately owned office complex at 2925 King Street is on an 11,000-square-foot property between the church and 531 N. 30th.
Bofill wasn't sure how many parking spaces could be laid out on the former Eagle Stop site, but said they are definitely needed. Even after a major expansion six years ago that added a 26,000-square-foot building and raised its total parking spaces to 260, Calvary has continued to grow, with worshippers
sometimes having to park in the residential neighborhood off King. The added parking spaces will let the church “be a better witness to our neighbors,” Bofill said.
The plan is to level the former store property in the coming weeks and then pave it, he said.
According to the previous proprietor, before the 2009 closure, there had been a business operation at the Eagle Stop site for 50-some years, and it had originally been a full-service gas station, including repair bays.